Heart in Hands
by the-compulsive-tea-drinker
Summary: Clarissa Black has always dreamed about working with dragons. Sent to Romania to continue her research surrounding the creatures, she believes nobody could ruin this for her. But when she develops an animosity with a Charles Weasley, it seems like he is out to prove her wrong. And with danger brewing as Lord Voldemort begins his climb to power, Charlie is the least of her problems


**So, this is an idea that I have had in my head for a while now, and i decided it was time to get it out of my head and onto paper (or in this case keyboard) So...here it is. It is my first H/P fanfic...so yeah...**

**It is set at the very beginning of The Goblet Of Fire, and is a Charlie OC. Hope you like it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters you recognize, quite obviously. Enjoy...**

The Arrival

The dark dirt road was deserted. It was uneven with use, for hardly ever did a car drive down the potholed road. The thick forest on either side was silent, the creatures inhabiting the nearby woods absent. The heavy blackness hung over the scene, only the light from the bright moon pervading the dark. Time seemed to slow, to grind to a halt, and it seemed almost as if the strange empty place was waiting for something. Even the very distant stars seemed to twinkle, as if they knew something the world didn't. A lone mouse, which had wondered far too deep in uncharted territory, pricked up its ears, frozen, waiting for something to come. And then it did.

A loud crack echoed throughout the silent woods. The mouse turned tail and ran. This place was far too dangerous for a small rodent such as itself. And there, standing in the middle of the previously empty road, stood a slender figure, clutching two misshapen suitcases. Dropping both suitcases to the ground with a dull thud, the stranger inspected its surroundings. It was a young woman, with long, dark brown tresses hanging in delicate curls down her back. Sighing loudly in exasperation, she raked her hand through her hair, and sat down on her large suitcase to wait, albeit impatiently.

A loud roar echoed down the valley, and the girl tilted her head to one side, a faint smile on her face. She wondered idly whether such a sound was audible to those who lived in the small town a way away. It would surely carry that distance, but she doubted they would. She guessed if they could she would be obliged to tell her uncle, although she really doubted she would. He was disapproving enough about this job, and she didn't want to further incur his "_wrath"_, if she could even call it that. Still, for a relatively mild man, with a bumbling manner, Cornelius Fudge was really rather persistent when he was indignant about something. And, Merlin, she had never seen him so indignant than when he heard about her new job. She wondered if-

But the girl's train of thought was interrupted by the sight of a hazy figure walking towards her. Squinting down the dark road, she tried to make out any distinct features, without avail. Instinctively she reached for an object in her back pocket, and withdrew a whittled piece of wood. Muttering an incantation, she moved a couple of paces backwards and stumbled over one of her suitcases. A light shone from the tip of the object she held tightly in her hand, lighting up the road several feet ahead of her. The figure was a man, she could see that, but apart from that, she could not make out any other noticeable features from where she stood. The man came to a stop a foot away from her, and she looked him up and down, trying to discern whether he was a threat. He had long hair, tied up in a ponytail, which was, even in the dim light her wand was producing, a vivid orange. He was handsome, no denying it, with a strong chiselled bone structure, and a muscular build. There were several burns across his arms and face, varying in size, some more recent than others. It was clear that while she had been inspecting him, he too had been inspecting her. As she took in his singed, slightly tatty clothes, he had been observing her tailored, prim outfit. It was pretty clear what he thought from the expression on his face, that of slight distain, and a little disgust. Only a little, but it was there. She had chosen this outfit particularly to impress her new co-workers, she thought ruefully as she glanced down at her attire. It was clear this man standing in front of her didn't approve.

He raised his eyes to meet hers, and she was startled by the shocking blue that met her. Taking in her wary expression, he held out a callused, blistered hand.

"Charlie Weasley," he muttered. Recognition sparked in the girl, and she placed her dainty delicate hand in his huge one, and shook it vigorously.

"Clarissa Black," she smiled, "but you can call me Clary." There was a faint frown on his face when he heard her surname, and she rushed to appease him. It wasn't like it wasn't a regular occurrence for people to take offense at the surname.

"I mean, you don't have to, obviously, but everyone does. Like how everyone calls me Clary Fudge. But I mean, like I said, it doesn't really matter. I mean, I'm related to him…well obviously I could be, but it is a common name. Of course I've never met him…well I am related to him, but most of the purebloods in this country are. It's just my luck to have the surname. And I wasn't raised by him or anything. My mother's family raised me. I…" Clary trailed off, a flush staining its way across her cheeks. Glancing up at him through her eyelashes, she cringed a little internally at his mildly horrified expression.

"So…um…you do work at the reserve? I haven't just spilled my life story to some random stranger, have I?" She smiled bashfully at him, but instead of laughing and relieving the tension, he just shrugged, and bent to pick up her bags.

Clary rushed forward to take them off him, but he ignored her, and began the walk back up the road he had come from. Jogging to keep up with him, Clary was struck by the considerable height difference. She barely came up to his shoulder, and every one of his long strides was worth two of hers. She found herself having to jog to keep up with him, to which he took no notice.

"Hey, could you slow down a little?" she pleaded, catching his arm. He yanked it out of her grip and continued walking.

"Hey…HEY! Excuse me, could you at least answer me?" She demanded indignantly, running in front of him and drawing herself up to her full height.

His previously irritated look grew mutinous and he loomed over her threateningly. "If you don't like the way we run things here, then you can leave. Nobody wants the ministry sticking their fat noses into our business. We are fine here on the reserve, and can manage fine without any of you idiots prancing in here. If you have a problem, take it somewhere else. I'm tired of the ministry thinking we are incompetent fools. The biggest fool here is obviously you!" And with that, he pushed past her and stormed up the road.

Clary was left standing on the roadside, biting back the tears that threatened to spill over her cheeks faintly surprised at the outburst. Furiously she dragged the back of her hand across her eyes and slowly began to follow the slowly disappearing figure of Charles Weasley. He did have her bags, after all.

She had been dreaming of this moment for so long. All through her school career the only thing she had ever wanted to do was work with animals. She just couldn't decide which animals. She had loved care of magical creatures, spending hours upon hours helping Professor Kettleburn, her beloved teacher. Although slightly doddering and old, he had always been so passionate about his subject, and the young Clarissa idolised him and his tales of the creatures he had encountered before he took the job of teaching. She had heard that the old man had retired, although he had been replaced by Rubeus Hagrid, the much loved groundskeeper. She made a promise to visit the both of them.

After leaving Hogwarts, Clary had gone into a desk job surrounding the treatment of magical creatures which her uncle had greatly approved, but finding it incredibly tedious, she decided it was time for a change. She had gone into work with the highly dangerous manticores and sphinxes, looking into the research about communication and relationships between species, focusing on sphinxes in particular. Although she found manticores personally fascinating, they were, as a species, far more rudimentary than sphinxes, because of their lesser intelligence, and reliance on instincts. She found sphinxes amazing, discovering a talent for riddles and a fascination with the beautiful creature.

But of course, the animals she had always found, without a doubt, the most astounding animals ever would have to be dragons. Charles Weasley, who she now remembered being a few years ahead, had been obsessed with the creatures, but Clary's intense interest stemmed from a different perspective. While Charlie had wanted to work with them in the manner that he did, Clary wanted to see whether there was more to the dragon. She had the theory that if you observe an animal for long enough, its traits, if an intelligent enough creature, should begin to form a pattern, a sort of language. Although she might not be able to replicate the earth shaking roars the dragons produced, Clary couldn't help wondering if she could to some extent, communicate with the dragons.

Determined to pursue this, Clary pushed and pushed the investigation on the communication with the creatures classified as "dangerous", insisting that this investigation could change the look on many of these creatures, and their treatment. Many were against it, including her uncle, Cornelius Fudge, who was outwardly against the issue. However, not even having the prime minister for magic against her could stop Clary when she set her mind to it, and sure enough, her uncle caved two weeks into the petition, and all other opposition followed pretty quickly after that. Her uncle had always been particularly weak minded, Clary noted, and this was no exception. It only took a couple of weeks of organisation, and then she was good to go. She was put into contact with the head of the Romanian reserve, and was quickly given a place to stay. And so, here she stood, at the age of twenty one. But it seemed that her much longed for dream was not yet in place.

She had made it this far though, and Clarissa Black was not one to let little things like a bitter schoolmate deter her. Even if it was the Gryffindor Quidditch prodigy who had constantly overshadowed everyone in his path. It must be his huge head, Clary mused as she made her way in the direction that the now invisible figure had gone. Lost in her thoughts, Clary didn't notice the huge gate until it was looming over her. She reached over and touched the metal bars, although she didn't need to feel the harsh shock to know it had been charmed against intruders. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she paced back and forth in front of the gate, trying to figure out how to get in. Raising her wand, she let forth a string of incantations. A fine mist seeped from the end of her wand and drifted through the gate. Rocking back on her heels, Clary crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

"Looks like not even you could open the gate. Typical ministry members, thinking they can do something no one else can." A snide voice told her from the darkness on the other side of the gate.

Clary raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Whad'you mean?" she asked.

Charlie stepped forward so that his face was visible through the bars. "Your spell. It didn't work."

The other eyebrow was raised now, and the antagonistic expression that had been in place the majority of her childhood was back in place upon her delicate features. "Who said it didn't work? You're here aren't you?" The smirk fell from his face, and a gormless one took its place.  
"Now let me in. I'm cold."

The gate swung open and she marched trimly inside. Inside though, she was gloating. She, Clarissa Black, had outsmarted the amazing Charlie Weasley! She had been waiting for that for a long time. What made it so spectacularly better was that he was being an arse, and had it coming to him.

Suddenly she realised she had been walking, but had absolutely no idea where she was going. Spinning on her heel, she nearly crashed into Charlie who had been following behind her. Stumbling backwards, she was caught by two strong hands. Tentatively, she glanced up at him. Their eyes locked, and Clary was amazed by the warmth in them. His face was open, caught off guard, and there was a distinct air of wonder in his features. She smiled up at him, which seemed to snap him out of a daze. Abruptly he pulled her to her feet and a glare took over his previously kind expression. As if submerging from the depths of the ocean, she felt herself fall back to reality. Straightening up and brushing the dirt off her clothes, she gestured to him with a distinct air of mocking.

"Shall we go? I have absolutely no idea of where we are going, so you might as well lead the way."

He nodded briefly, before turning and walking in the opposite direction to the way they had been walking. As she began following Charlie Weasley for the second time today, Clary couldn't help wondering why he had not stopped her wandering off around the reserve.

…ooOoo…

Charlie led Clary to a little cabin that sat on the boarder of the forest. He gestured for her to knock, and so tentatively she raised her hand and rapped on the wooden door three times. A jovial cry of "enter!" rang out from the inside. Walking in, she was greeted by a rush of heat that sent the blood rushing to her cheeks. A stout well-dressed man sat behind a huge wooden desk, his feet on the surface.

"Welcome, welcome," he exclaimed, beaming at her. "You must be Clarissa Black, am I correct? Pleasure to meet you, pleasure to meet you. I was delighted when I heard about your little project. Fascinating idea. I doubt it works but you never know, you never know."

Clary stared at him with wide eyes. He had belittled her idea, patronised her beyond belief and called the thing she had worked on for two months little, in around three sentences, within seconds of meeting her. And the strangest thing was, she didn't really mind. There was something about his ridiculously cheery manner that endeared him to her beyond belief.

Shaking her head a little to clear it, she smiled back at him and held out her hand. "I quite agree, you never know. But personally, I have a little more faith. It worked pretty well for the previous creatures I had the pleasure of working with."

"Yes…manticores and sphinxes wasn't it? Incredible, incredible, that such a little thing could work with such dangerous animals," he mused.

Clary tutted lightly. "Now, sir, weren't you ever told not to judge a book by its cover? And besides, if I was too little to deal with a little old sphinx, how d'you expect me to work with dragons?"

"True, true," conceded the director of the reserve. "Now, my dear girl, I believe it is time to get to be. You will be staying in a cabin with our two reserve gals, Racheal and Emilie. Lovely people. Now keys, keys… and of course, Emilie is the best cook I've ever met…superb! You're one lucky girl to be living with her… ahhhh, here it is…"

He leant across his ornate desk and handed her a set of keys. "Charlie will take you there, woncha Charlie?"

The man in question stood from his slumped posture against the wall and nodded. Clary stood and brushed off her skirt. She stuck out her hand and smiled sweetly. He clasped it in both of his and shook it vigorously.

"Pleasure to meet you sir."  
"And you, my dear girl, and you."

Gesturing to Charlie, she collected her belongings and followed the tall figure out the door. He led her silently through the reserve. Walking along the beaten path worn into the ground by countless feet, a thought occurred to the girl.

"I was never even told his name!"

Charlie chuckled. Clary started; unaware he was even aware how to make such a noise. "Yeah, he is a bit like that isn't he? That was Mr Edward Knarlsworth. A rather amazing bloke isn't he? I doubt even you would be able to get a word in edgeways."

Affronted, Clary drew herself up to her full height, which is worth mentioning was not particularly noticeable, and demanded, "And what exactly does that mean?"

Observing her narrowed eyes and pursed mouth, Charlie remarked, "Well you do talk quite a bit, don't you?"

Finding herself unable to respond, Clary spluttered indignantly, before spinning on her heel and marching away. Smirking, her tormentor followed behind, feeling particularly pleased with himself. He didn't know what it was about this girl, but she provoked the most bizarre responses in him.

Clary, marching ahead of him along the path, came across what seemed to be a quaint wooden cabin, at least from what she could make out in the dark. A hand clapped her on the shoulder, causing her to let out a startled yelp and seize the arm; twisting it backwards. Charlie, torn between intense pain from her grasp, and intense amusement at the yelp he had provoked, let out a wheezy chuckle.

When it became clear she was not going to release him anytime soon, Charlie gently extracted himself from her grip. For her size, the girl had an extraordinary strength of grip, but compared to his brute strength, there was no competition. (And of course, Clary would always resolutely claim that she had recognised him, and had significantly lessened her grip.) Finding the other uncomfortably close, the couple jumped away from each other, and, finding no other option to fall back on, resumed glaring at each other. Pointing at the cabin behind her, Charlie pushed her towards it, none to gently.

"That's yours. Go on," he told her, dumping her bags at her feet.

Uncertainly, Clary picked up the two suitcases and walked slowly towards the porch. Upon reaching the door, she reached over and tentatively knocked on the door. A cry came from inside, followed by the sound of approaching feet. The door was flung open, revealing a quizzical woman. She had tightly braided cornrows, each small plait fastened by a pretty glass bead, and deep soulful brown eyes. Her dusky skin had a light flush from the warmth emanating from the cosy house, and she had a smear of flour over her left eyebrow.

"Uh, hey. I'm Clary. I'm new here?" Her last statement ended on a question, as her confidence evaporated. Luckily for her, a wide grin spread across the woman's face.

"Ahhh, the new girl Knarly was telling us about! Welcome lovely. My name's Racheal. Come in, come in," she exclaimed, gesturing her into the house. She spoke in a deep rich voice, which had a twinge of an Australian accent. Clary went to follow her invitation, but paused on the threshold. Turning to Charlie, who was still stood in the shadows, she flashed a winning smile in his direction.

"Oh, and by the way Charlie? The reason I talk as much as I do is because I always have something useful to contribute to the sentence. An attribute I think you'll find yourself lacking." And then, head held high, she swept into the house, leaving the boy standing open mouthed outside.

As soon as the door was shut, she found herself face to face with Racheal, who had a very strange look on her face. Clary raised an eyebrow quizzically to the woman, which only seemed to spark a number of tremors to run through her body, to Clary's great alarm.

She was about to run and get help, to fling open the door and appeal to Charlie, when Racheal let forth a great peal of laughter. The hysterics Racheal was having seemed to be catching, as, soon enough, Clary found herself leaning against the wall of the hall holding her sides. Eventually the laughter subsided, and the two women collected themselves. Helping her to her feet, Racheal gave Clary a wide grin.

"It's been a long time since someone bested that boy. And very amusing it was too. Thank you for that hon. It's gonna be fun to have you around." Clapping her on the back, the beaming woman led Clary into a wide, open plan kitchen. Standing at a counter, another woman stood, clutching a mixing bowl. Clary found herself staring open mouthed at the polar opposite of Racheal. With long blond hair almost her waist and very fair skin, the very beautiful woman standing opposite her made Clary want to burst into tears. The girl looked like a supermodel, with long elegant legs clad in designer jeans and a tiny waist displaying an elegant flowing top. Wide blue eyes examined her, surrounded by thick black lashes and a heavy amount of eyeliner. Soft pink pouty lips were open in a little _oh_ of surprise and the delicate nose was screwed up in thought. Clary would have put any amount of money on the fact that the girl was in fact veela, or at least part.

Racheal stepped forward beaming. "Emilie, this is our new housemate, Clary. Clary, resident chef and all round snob Emilie."

Emilie flashed a dark look at the woman introducing her, before focusing her attention on Clary. "Ahhh, Clariee, do not lissen to 'er. She does not know what she iz talking about. My name iz Emilie. Eet iz a pleazzure to meet you."

Clary found herself drawn towards the pretty woman with her lilting accent and soft spoken tone. A polished, manicured hand was held out to her, and Clary dropped her bags and crossed the spacious kitchen to meet it. Standing opposite Emilie, Clary was only more aware of the height difference between them. Even in her comically high heels, Clary stood more than a head below her, which did not go unnoticed by either Racheal or Emilie.

"You are tiny! 'Ow can you be a dragon keeper? Eet is reediculous!"

"No way! I can't believe I didn't notice it before! How exactly are _you_ gonna stop a rampaging Horntail?"

Clary silenced them both with a look. Glaring at the two of them she tossed her thick, glossy hair over her shoulder and retorted, "Well, it's not as if it is going to look at one of you and go, oh well, I better back off those two. They've got an extra two inches of height on that one, so I'll go for her instead! For crying out loud, everyone acts like I'm utterly incapable! I'm not even _that_ small! Urgh!"

She spun around and threw up her hands angrily. A small chuckle came from behind her and she turned to glare at Racheal.  
"_What?"_ she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"Sorry, love, but you are quite funny," Racheal replied, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. "It's just that…well, you are quite small hon. I've got about four to five inches on you, not two. And you're just…just so impassioned about it all. I…I…."

And then both she and Emilie were bent over cackling in mirth. Clary tried to keep a stern composure, but the sight of her two new housemates bent double laughing soon set her off. As soon as it seemed like one of them was close to regaining their control, one of the other two would start her again, and soon enough, all three were lying across the floor, helpless with laughter.

When they were quite literally laughed out, Emilie clambered to her feet and pulled both Racheal and Clary up with her.

"I am sorry for laughing at you. Eet was most funny, but perhaps not so amusant for you, oui?"

Clary waved her off. "No, no, I overreacted. It's just that since the moment I arrived, every single person I have met has told me I am small and they would be amazed if I could actually do the job I worked so hard to get. Apart from Charlie, who told me I was an idiotic fool from the ministry. It is getting a little tiring, is all."

"No, no, we can see how irritating that would be. We won't tease you about your height anymore-much," Racheal said, grinning at Clary, who grinned back. "And as for the imbecile Charlie…"

"Un idiot."  
"eejit,"  
"nigaude,"  
"dumbass,"  
"pauvre,"  
"moronic fool,"  
"crétine tête de nœud, "

Clary coughed lightly, causing her (dare she say it?) friends to turn around with sheepish expressions on their faces. Racheal struggled to regain her train of thought, "Errrr…yeah, so as for him, he can get stuffed. Don't worry about moody old him. He's always grumpy with the new people here. Takes him a while to warm up to people and all. Add Knarly accidentally letting it slip you used to work for the ministry…well, he was not a happy chappie."

"What has he got so against people from the ministry anyway? I mean, I've met a great deal of people from there, and they aren't the most pleasant people on earth, but what's his problem?" Clary questioned.

Racheal paused, struggling in a way to phrase it, but Emilie beat her too it. "Eet iz not so much zat 'e iz against ze peoples from ze ministry, but zat 'e believes zat ze rezerve should not be ze ministry's. most of 'is family iz part of ze ministry, and 'e feels zat 'e should have somefink of 'is own. Of course, I am not justifying 'is actions, but I understand why he feels like zis."

"Basically he is a jealous grump," interjected Racheal. Nodding her understanding, Clary smiled at the both of them. Hopefully he would warm up to her, Clary decided, when he realised she was most definitely not from the ministry.

"So…Knarly mentioned you had worked with manticores?" Racheal questioned, leaning forward.

"Yeah, and sphinxes. I worked with them for about a year and a half." Emilie lead them towards the large living room, dominated by two huge sofas, one of which Racheal threw herself down on and seemed to sink into. Emilie pulled Clary onto the second one, next to her, and took up the questioning from Racheal.

…oo0oo…

It was very late in the night when Clary was lead to her bedroom, nearing the early hours of the morning. Racheal ushered her into the second door on the right, telling her to sleep well, and that she would wake her up the next morning, if she slept too late.

"Not that we have work or anything, it's the weekend, but you don't want to miss breakfast."

And with that, she was pushed into her new bedroom, for the significant future. Too tired to do much else but pull off her skirt and jacket, and falling into the spacious double bed. Absentmindedly, she wondered how such a small cabin could fit so much in it, but she fell asleep before she could determine that it was merely a simple expansion charm.

And in a cabin a little way away, a red headed man lay awake; listening to his roommate's snoring, and gritted his teeth. He couldn't get the petite girl from the ministry out of his head. He couldn't tell if she irritated or intrigued him more.

* * *

**So that is the first chapter. I hope it was okay. Please review, tell me what you think. **


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